The first printmaking subject to be taught at the SASA was woodblock printing. The 1924-25 SASA prospectus describes woodblock printing in which “the student gains a valuable knowledge of the decorative uses of flat spaces in design, characterised by a bold outline. An appreciative insight is thus gained into the aim of poster designing and of modern methods of reproduction.”200 There were two grades of woodblock
printing: in grade I there was an emphasis on black-and-white printing and in grade II “more elaborate designs and colour schemes [were to be attempted], and the
printing of colour graduations.”201
In this same prospectus there is mention of etching as a subject which “is at present being arranged, and when ready will be supplied on request. There will be three grades in this subject.”202 Given that it was being taught by Barringer in early 1925,
as affirmed in the article in The News on February 11 mentioned previously, etching may have commenced in late 1924 or early 1925.203 Other individuals who were
influential in introducing the subject of etching to the School were Joseph H. Choate ( ? -1955), lecturer at the SASA and a practising etcher204, and Henri van Raalte (1881-
1929). The latter was a noted printmaker, specialising in etching, and a member of the school council.
The 1939 SASA prospectus includes the same description of woodblock printing205 as in
the 1924-25 prospectus, but there is now a full listing for etching, with a description of what is required of the student and what is taught in each of grades I, II and III.206
These sources suggest that the teaching of etching and woodblock printing was well underway by 1939, and the assessment criteria for each of the grades indicate that they were taught from a fine art perspective, rather than a commercial or printing trades basis. However, grade III of woodblock printing suggests that “illustrations for
200 "South Australian School of Arts and Crafts, Prospectus," (Adelaide: Education Department, South
Australia, 1924-25)., 45
201 Ibid., 45 202 Ibid., 31
203 Candida, "New Etching Press, School of Arts Enterprise," The News, Feb 11, 1925. 204 J. A. Hart, "Obituary, J. H. Choate," St Peter's College Magazine December(1955)., 7
205 "Syllubus of Subjects, School of Arts and Crafts," (Adelaide: Education Department of South Australia,
1939)., 41
children’s books give scope for the student’s originality”,207 demonstrating the
historical link between woodblocks and wood engravings and letterpress printing, which combined the printing of movable type with illustrations cut into wooden blocks that were ‘type high’, or the same height as the type.
A course titled Poster Design is also listed in the 1939 prospectus, and is offered for grades I and II. Grade I includes an explanation of the “principles of printing, letterpress, lithography, and offset lithography … The Poster Design course was intended to make a direct connection with industry and commerce.”208 From this it
can be surmised that lithography was taught at the SASA as early as 1939, perhaps even earlier, although there is no mention of lithography as an area of study in the 1924-25 prospectus booklet. There is also a very different emphasis in the study of lithography to that of etching and woodblock printing. Lithography is not being taught as a fine art subject, as are etching and woodblock printing, but as part of a course in poster design, which was strongly connected to the commercial printing trade.
John Goodchild became principal of the SASA in 1941, taking over from Howie, who resigned aged 65. Goodchild was born in Chelsea, London and came to Adelaide with his parents in 1913, when he was 15. He enlisted in the WWI Australian Imperial Force in 1917, and served on the Western Front with the 9th Field Ambulance. Goodchild’s drawings of WWI soldiers were published in the army’s newspaper, Digger and, after the war, he was commissioned by the Australian government to draw the cemeteries in France.209 After WW1, Goodchild attended the SASA in 1920,
and in 1922 he travelled to London and studied etching with Frank L. Emanuel and W.P. Robins at the Central School of Arts and Crafts London (CSAC). Many South Australian artists, from Malcolm Helsby (in 1923) to Barbara Hanrahan (in 1963, 1965, and 1976), travelled to London to study at the CSAC.210
Writing about the ‘age of etching’, Carroll notes that the “Adelaide printmakers were involved in the successful national ‘Painter-Etcher’ boom of the early 1920s, with a major exhibition of the national society held in Adelaide in 1922 with the three
207 Ibid., 41 208 Ibid., 33
209 Joan Kerr, "John Goodchild, Biography," Design & Art Australia Online, accessed July 11, 2012.
http://www.daao.org.au/bio/john-goodchild/#artist_biography.
210 Alison Carroll, Graven Images in the Promised Land: A History of Printmaking in South Australia 1836-1981 (Adelaide: Art Gallery Board SA 1981)., 27; Alison Carroll, Barbara Hanrahan, Printmaker
major South Australian etchers, Hans Heysen, Henri van Raalte and John Goodchild, included.”211 This flourishing of etching featured a very male-dominated group. Only
two of the twenty-two printmakers featured in this chapter are female etchers – Ethel Barringer and Dora Whitford. The modernist relief print movement, which was dominated by female printmakers in Adelaide, was to occur in the following decade. Carroll writes that even though the leaders in etching were from the eastern states, there was, “for the first time, … a feeling of nationhood, of a federation of artist printmakers across the borders. South Australian artists were included in the national group and in turn would have been well aware of information from, and activities in, the East.”212 In 1923, Goodchild held the first solo exhibition by a local etcher at the
Society of Arts in Adelaide213, and also showed his work in Sydney with the Australian
Painter-Etchers' (and Graphic Art) Society, of which he was vice-president.214
Goodchild returned to London to study lithography under A. S. Hartrick at the CSAC in 1926. He was a very good lithographer and was the only Australian member elected to the group of British lithographers called the Senefelder Club215. In the
early 1930s, Goodchild returned to intaglio printing and made his beautiful series of aquatinted sea and sky prints; Yarramouth, 1936 was acquired for the AGSA
collection.
Goodchild taught at the SASA from 1935, and was principal from 1941 to 1945. He, like Gill, was also associated with the AGSA, and was a member of the board from 1938 to 1955, and again from 1960 to 1969.216 He would sometimes contact the AGSA
to come and view the high-quality work of his students, with a view to AGSA
purchasing some works for their collection. A truculent and ebullient man, Goodchild was passionate about art and education. He enjoyed the company of Jeffrey Smart who, in his student days, signed his paintings ‘Trams’ – Smart spelt backwards. Smart
211 Carroll, Graven Images, 14 212 Carroll, Graven Images, 14 213 Carroll, Graven Images, 27
214 Joyce Gibbard, "Goodchild, John Charles (1898–1980)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, National
Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed July 11, 2012. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goodchild-john-charles-10327/text18279.
215 In 1908, F. Earnest Jackson was a founding member of the Senefelder Club, who shared a printing
press and studio. The group was named after Alois Senefelder (1771-1834) who had invented lithography in Munich in the late-eighteenth century. The club held its first exhibition in 1910 at the Goupil Gallery, London, stating that it stood 'for the advancement of artistic lithography'. "Object of the Month - March 2012, F. Ernest Jackson ARA, The Front Door, lithograph, 1913 " Royal Academy of the Arts, accessed July 11, 2012. http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART3931.
216 Carroll, Graven Images in the Promised Land: A History of Printmaking in South Australia 1836-1981.
would often drop in to see Goodchild on Sunday mornings to discuss his latest theories on painting.217
Goodchild was principal of the SASA for a short time only, as he was commissioned as an official war artist attached to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) by the
Australian War Memorial in 1945. In his book Printmaking in Australia, Seidel argues that in Adelaide in the early 1940s, there was an isolated revival of interest in intaglio printmaking due to the influence of Goodchild’s teaching at the SASA. He taught Hick and Smart and encouraged the use of experimental etching techniques and processes because there was a lack of materials during and after WWI.
217 Judith Brooks, John C. Goodchild, 1898-1980: his life & art (Glen Osmond SA: Dooreen Goodchild,